Grand Theft Auto Online recently received its Enhanced and Expanded Edition, bringing the game to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles for the first time. There are some definite improvements, like GTA 5 loading faster on PS5 than PS4. However, there are some notable drawbacks, as well.
Fans have been quick to point out problems with GTA 5 Enhanced and Expanded Edition, ranging from difficulties transferring characters to issues with the visuals. However, at least one player has now been hit by a very strange bug that left San Andreas deserted.
Redditor Dangerous_Mess2366 took to the GTA Online subreddit to share a video displaying the strange bug. Dangerous_Mess2366 notes that they're playing the game on PS5, and their player character can be seen walking around town. It doesn't take anyone familiar with the game long to notice something is distinctly odd: there are no pedestrians on the sidewalks, and cars are completely missing from the roads.
At one point, Dangerous_Mess2366 toggles open their player menu, showing that they're not offline and are in fact sharing the server with other players. It's likely that they were also experiencing the same problem, with it probably being a server-wide issue. Perhaps the most interesting element of the bug is that cars can still be heard, even though they're not present. It may simply be a street noise ambiance background track that's played that's not really noticeable when cars are actually around, though.
Players in the comments have reportedly experienced similar issues, with one noting that their heist crew vanished from their GTA Online arcade at one point. Another noted that in their experience, this bug usually ends with pedestrians loading in and cars spawning out of thin air at high speeds. It's unclear if shops with NPCs were still functioning, or if players were locked out of that, as well. However, switching to another server would likely place the player back in a normal lobby, so it shouldn't have been too much of a headache.
GTA 5, like most open world games, is far from bug-free, and the Online experience has its own share of issues. Although the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy remaster launched in poor shape, Rockstar was quick to issue patches amending the most heinous of the issues. Considering that GTA Online has an active online playerbase that spends money in the form of microtransactions, one can only hope that the company fixes this issue in the near future, as well.
GTA Online is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.